I came across a cool top ten list of Christmas gifts for guitarists today, from friend and fellow guitar blogger Jon, over at GuitarNoize. (Check it out and be sure to subscribe!)
My personal favorites on this list are the Planet Waves guitar straps and the In-ear metronome from Korg. Yes it could be pretty obnoxious to have that clicking right in your ears, but hey, the biggest thing that separates the great players from the good ones is rhythm and timing.
Hey, We aren’t making this up! Pat Metheny says so himself, and who can argue with Pat about guitar playing?
To me, rhythm and what you do with it is everything…. Right after rhythm is melody.
-Pat Metheny
+
=
Click on Posing Pat to Learn why he loves rhythm and melody so much.
Now if only we could get our drummers to wear one of these in ear metronomes…..
Ps….What kind of music related gifts do you want this year?
Popularity: 14% [?]
What Is Your Defining Guitar Memory?What’s the Matter?Nail it!Be Normal. Be UnsuccessfulPast, Present, Future. Which Two Don’t Belong?
5 responses so far ↓
1 Ava // Dec 3, 2008 at 12:40 am
I think the miniature guitars are a much better option.
Try stuffing a real guitar into someone else’s stocking
2 JB // Dec 3, 2008 at 8:30 am
I love your response, Ava!
OK, now let’s talk about drummers.
I’m a drummer, and I think that all this BS about timing and rhythm is obsolete and retarded.
Want to get a big smack in your face hearing the most square-tight drummer on Earth?
This drummer I speak of is Gene Hoglan.
He is one of my friends, and you should search on the web, wikipedia and other resources about him.
He is a metal drummer, yet everything he does is flawless, I dare say it’s a Mike Orlando, but in a drumming version!
If you want to hear him at work, listen to the ban d Strapping Young Lad’s albums “Alien” and “The new Black”.
Come back later to tell me if you still think drummers suck!
Do you know why they suck?
I know,and here’s why:
They are totally unable to consider setting up their drumkit ergonomically so they don’t lose time shifting from an element to another.
They sit on miserable thrones,havig a bad position to play.
Their pedals are badly set and the springs are loose or worn out.So they have to cope with a delay.
Their sticks aren’t well balanced and dn’t fit the music they play.
Want to know more?Hit me up.
Just wanna say, though, that this metronome earwig is rad!For any musicians!
Now, what about music without bars?Did you ever heard about it?
If you want to know when the bar appeared, I’ll be glad to teach you everything about the musical notation.
In an article maybe?
3 Jeff // Dec 3, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Sounds like a good article to me JB!
4 JB // Dec 17, 2008 at 2:09 pm
About the drummers or the bars,Jeff?
Last article I wrote was a disaster.because it is so much ahead…no one will admit it,but what happened during the XVIIth Century beats the f*** up to what happens now.
It’s just my opinion,don’t get me wrong.I am disappointed by the sick focus guitarists have on just a point in life…
5 Ernesto // Sep 6, 2009 at 1:23 am
Great article, thanks for sharing that. I really like Pat Metheny (he seems to be such a perfectionist guitar player).
I just put together a tool for guitar players to choose guitar gifts and tell their family and friends.
It’s called The Guitar Wishlist, available here: http://www.topofguitar.com/wishlist
Perhaps the readers of this blog would be interested in it.
Leave a Comment